When I reflect on 2024, there are a host of positive’s that took place on a personal front. For that I am grateful. However, If I am honest with you, I closed out 2024 feeling a little discontent. Some dynamics from current events within my life seemed to cause me to wake up on New Year’s Day feeling unaccomplished. They weren’t major issues or anything of grand concern. It was just undercurrents that left me feeling a hole inside me. This is what I did about it:

I grabbed my bible and had my wife sit with me as we read and began planning for our journey through the Book of Acts, we are starting this week in our Sunday School class that we teach together.

That is how you fill the hole. I used to try to fill that empty hole with things. Things like sex, alcohol, smoking, material stuff and anything that felt good. It took me long enough, but I finally figured out that the ONLY way to fill that empty hole is to fill it with Jesus.

Yesterday was my one-year anniversary here at Give Your Story. I published my first blog post January 1^st 2024. I now have 166 posts for my readers. Give Your Story of Hope is rooted in my foundation with Jesus. You see, I have a story I haven’t told yet. I am interested in telling that story. I have it all written out with the idea to one day publish it in book form. It does, however, need great refinement. It’s definitely not quite ready yet. I do not know when that time will come. I do know, that the groundwork for that Story is still under construction. That groundwork is here at Give Your Story. The name, Give Your Story and the concept of writing about Hope comes from the Foreword of what I have already written. The root of the Story is in my Hope for 2025. When I reflect on Give Your Story of 2024, I see the number 4. The significance of the number 4 in the bible is creation. Here is what I see when I reflect on Give Your Story of 2024

1. Growth in defining the purpose of Give Your Story.
2. Development of writing skills.
3. Confidence in staying persistent despite minimal internet exposure.
4. Celebration of better understanding of Him as I write to educate, communicate and glorify God with the Gifts I have been given.

To continue to grow, I must continue to refine myself and I must continue to refine Give Your Story. A good base was built in 2024, but there needs to be a more refined purpose so I can plug into a more specific audience. Here are the areas I have interest in refining with Big Hope for Give Your Story in 2025.

1. Hope Dealer – This area feeds into the beginning of my story. Sex Addiction. I had been in recovery for Sex Addiction for 12 years when I finally figured out there was More. More what? I didn’t know, but I prayed a prayer asking God to show me More. Indeed, God did show me More. This prayer is where my journey with Christ truly started. One of the answers to that prayer has always been a constant message from God, that I am to help men recover from sex addiction. To continue to help those who struggle with addiction, I have been investigating becoming a Certified Hope Dealer because after all, I do write about Hope. In the 12 step rooms, a key concept that we share about our sobriety, is that we have to give it away to keep it. I truly believe in this God given concept.
2. Bipolar Hope Community – Bphope has been a resource for me in my struggle and journey with Bipolar. I have been attempting to contribute to this community as it has served me well along my path. There are great educational facts and information and personal stories of Hope in this community. My journey with Christ helped me find this resource that I have interest in further exploring and giving back to.
3. Bare Marriage – Marriage is another pathway God used in my story to help me find Jesus. I found this blog over 8 years ago and it is a root of where I found Jesus. I must admit, sex in my marriage was a driving factor but that is not all I found. I found so much More. I believe marriage is a passageway to God. A good healthy marriage provides a good healthy path to Jesus. The origin of Give Your Story has much to do with what I found at Bare Marriage. For this I am forever grateful and look to give back to this ministry as it supports; Women First and men in Marriages, of course healthy sex for ALL, which is a Big struggle for many in their marriages, and a Full Stop to toxic messages in the church such as patriarchy and sexual exploitation.
4. Safe Church – This area feeds into what I found at Bare Marriage and is an area of interest I have due to my background of being molested by my Youth Pastor in my home church. My home church growing up, went through a period of toxic times. I became one of its victims. I found through my journey at Bare Marriage, that toxic messages run deep in many of the over 140 Christian church denominational communities. Sometimes it starts with doctrine, sometimes it starts with individual leaders and sometimes it’s just a power trip from within to have more power than others. Of course, there are other ways to communicate toxic messages that ARE NOT OF JESUS for the better of oneself. There are examples of this ALL OVER THE BIBLE. It has been found that when a message works for some and not ALL, this message undermines the Word of Jesus and has the potential to harm others. When people are harmed by their own church community, this undermines the Name of Jesus and chases people away from their Faith. I STAND FOR JESUS and Safe Church. I am registered for a Safe Church conference here in early 2025 and look forward to learning more about this community to give back for the sake of Safe Churches in the name of my Jesus.

This is my BIG HOPE FOR Refinement in 2025!